Sri Lanka Players Criticise ‘Unfair’ T20 World Cup 2024 Schedule Citing Lengthy Travel

New York: Sri Lanka have expressed their displeasure regarding their tight schedule in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024, stating the roster is ‘unfair’, which already forced them to cancel one practice due to the long travel time. Champions in 2014, Sri Lanka started their campaign with a six-wicket loss against South Africa in a Group D encounter. Taking a dig at the ICC, spinner Maheesh Theekshana felt the negativity impacted the side.

“So unfair for us, we have to leave every day (after the match) because we are playing (at) four different venues,” Theekshana said. “The flight we took from Florida, from Miami, we had to wait like eight hours in the airport to get the flight. We were supposed to leave at 8pm but we got the flight at 5am. It’s really unfair for us, but it doesn’t matter when you play,” he added.

On the other hand, South Africa will be playing two more games in New York while India, who will open their campaign against Ireland on Wednesday, will also play three matches in the city before travelling to Florida to play their final group game against Canada.

“…even from the hotel, it (the practice venue) is one hour and 40 minutes. Even today (for the match against South Africa), we had to wake up around 5 AM to come here,” Theekshana pointed out. Notably, the Island nation were forced to cancel a training session ahead of the South Africa game.

Although the Lankan spinner denied to take names but pointed out that a few teams “have got the opportunity to stay in the same place but their hotel is 14 minutes to the ground.” “I can’t say the (names of the) teams that are playing in the same venue, so they know what the conditions are like. They’re playing practice games at the same venue. No one will get that.

“We played the practice games in Florida, and our third game’s in Florida. There’s some things that I think that everyone will rethink about next year because I know that this year, nothing will change,” he said. Sri Lanka captain Wanindu Hasaranga resonated with the sentiment.

“We had a tough time last few days. All four games in four venues. It’s hard. We didn’t know…This is our first game in New York. Next game in Dallas…Next game is in Florida where we played two games, that’s the only plus point we have,” he said.

A report in ‘ESPNCricinfo’ stated that Sri Lanka manager Mahinda Halangoda has written to the ICC on this matter but given that the tournament is already underway, the side does not expect any resolution to their logistical problems.